Tag: Jesus is Love

I Am The Vine

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

I just love the chapter in John where Jesus talks about the vine. There are so many nuggets of gold that you can take away from what Jesus is saying. In this analogy God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. When we remain in Jesus and Jesus is in us, which means we are full of the Holy Spirit, we will produce fruit. In Galatians 5:22 it says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  If your desire is to have these qualities, then you must remain in the word of God. Devote yourself to something new because a well will spring forth with blessings. Designate time with Him so that He can show you the way.

Jesus also says that God, the gardener, will prune the vine. In the first part of John 15:2, Jesus says, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit…” It is a gardener’s responsibility to care for the vines in a vineyard.  When a gardener sees a dead branch, he will cut it off from the trunk of the vine.  A dead branch is not only useless to a vine, but it can also infect the rest of the vines.  In Galatians 5:19, Paul lists the acts of the sinful nature. Then in verse 21 he says, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Or in short, they will be cut off from the Vine.

The second part of John 15:2 says, “…while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  The fruitful branches are true believers that by remaining in Jesus produce much fruit.  But Jesus does not say that true believers will live happily ever after without any problems.  No, He says that true believers will be cut back too.  There will be pain.  There will be trials.  There will be sorrow.  But we can use these experiences to strengthen our character and faith.  God prunes us so that we will be even more fruitful, and this fruitfulness will glorify God.

So to recap, the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the fruits that you will produce if He remains in you and you in Him. Jesus ends his message about the vines by saying in John 15:17, “This is my command: Love each other.”  Yep, that’s what it’s all about.

Lord, thank you for speaking to us through your word. Please fill us with the desire to lean in and linger with you every day so that we may produce fruit and glorify you. Amen

All Things Work Together

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Have you heard the worship song called “Way Maker”? It is one of my favorite songs and we listened to it yesterday at the beginning of our company’s weekly Zoom call.  A few lines of the song say “Even when I don’t see it, he’s working.  Even when I don’t feel it, he’s working.  He never stops, he never stops working.”  Since yesterday, the words to this song keep popping into my head, showing up on my social media feed and even in my daily devotions so I was pretty sure God wanted me to share this devotional with you this week. 

God has a plan and His plan is that everyone comes to know Christ Jesus.  So, you and I, as Christians, go about our everyday life but behind the scenes, the Holy Spirit is working on people.  He is working, even when you don’t see it.  He is working, even when you don’t feel it.  He is working on your neighbor.  The neighbor that doesn’t mow his lawn and leaves his trash cans out two days too long.  He is working on the funny co-worker that always cracks a joke on all the Zoom calls.  He is working on the total stranger that you’ve “bumped” into at the grocery store 3 times.  He is working on your brother.  He never stops working and you are part of his plan.  He is going to use you, because you have been called according to his purpose.

If you are a Christian, the Bible says that ALL THINGS that have happened to you will be used by God for good.  Not just isolated incidents, ALL THINGS.  But that doesn’t mean that everything that happens to you will be good.  The pain of loss, the sorrow of depression and the sting of rejection can be used for good too.  Because you have experienced those things yourself, you can recognize them in others.  Then comes the cool part, the Holy Spirit will do what he does best and He will put people in your path.  All you have to do is look up.  Smile.  Say hello.  Have a conversation and let the love of Jesus shine out of you.  Cultivate relationships with the people God is already putting in your path.  Then over time they will begin to see that there is something different about you.  When they comment about it (and they will) you can tell them about Jesus.  Then let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

Lord, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to help me with your plan.  Please open my eyes to what the Holy Spirit is doing in the people that are all around me every day so that I can be the physical hands and feet of Jesus on earth.  Amen

What does God say about Racism?

Mark 12:31 it says, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 

I have been told that you can find the answers to every question in the Bible.  So, I decided to see if that was true.  I want to know what God say about racism.  Here is what I found.

Way back before Jesus was born, God helped the Israelites (also called the Jews) escape Egypt where they were slaves.  God led the them to a special place he called the Promised Land. When they finally arrived, God told them not to marry or mingle with the people in that land because they did not believe in God.  So, it was part of their lifestyle not to marry outside of their race.

Now fast forward to Jesus’s time.  Jesus preached about love, grace and forgiveness.  He said the most important commandment was to love God and in Mark 12:31 it says, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  Many Jews did not believe that Jesus was God’s son and did not want to believe what he was preaching.  They only wanted to love other Jews. 

Since many Jewish people rejected Jesus and did not want to believe that Jesus was God’s son, Jesus instructed his friends to tell other races about Jesus so that everyone could have an opportunity to believe and be saved.  They were very successful and lots of people believed and were saved!  So, one day, Peter, one of Jesus’ friends, was asked to go to Cornelius’s house.  Cornelius was the captain of the Italian Guard and not a Jew.

When Peter got to Cornelius’s house, the Bible says in Acts 10:27-29 (MSG) “Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, “You know, I’m sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don’t do this – visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So, the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked. But now I’d like to know why you sent for me.”

So, there you have it.  No race is better than any other.  That is what God says.  God created all the different races. Another race may look strange to you, but you look strange to them too.  You may listen to different music, have different traditions, speak different languages, or wear different clothes.  But different isn’t bad, it is just different.  How boring would this world be if we were all exactly alike?  Take some time and get to know God’s people for who they are not what they look like and you will be pleasantly surprised about how much you actually have in common.

Lord, thank you for making so many amazing and wonderful people.  Help me to remember that you want me to love my neighbor as much as I love myself. Amen

Something Brand New

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Isaiah 43:19 (MSG) “Be alert, be present. I am about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”

“Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.” ~ Author Unknown

I saw this quote online a few weeks ago and it really stuck with me. To me, the idea that a storm will clear away things that we never would have moved on our own has God written all over it. So, I started to think back over the storms in my life and I tried to look at them in a different way. For example, when after three years my position was eliminated at the first job in my career, I was devastated. I was young, I had loved my job, and I did not know what to do. But looking back I can see that leaving that job cleared a path for me to find a sales job at a hotel and that lead me to find the faith-based company that I work for today. I have been working there for 23 years now and I have the most amazing work family.

“Be alert, be present. I am about to do something brand new.” That is what God says in Isaiah. But how can He do something new in your life if you are surrounded by clutter & distractions? Maybe the storm you are in right now was not sent to block your path. Maybe it was sent to clear out the unnecessary things that are lying in your path, the driftwood and rubble that has started to pile up in your life and over time and has become an obstacle to you. Maybe this storm was sent to clear away all the things that you were doing that kept you busy and kept you away from Jesus.

Lord, thank you for sending the storms. Your ways are not my ways, but your ways are better. So, I trust you, Lord, to clear my path and to lead me to something brand new. Amen